Strategic planning for research priorities in schools of nursing requires consensus building and engagement of key stakeholders. However, traditional approaches to strategic planning using work groups and committees sometimes result in low rates of faculty participation and fail to engage other important stakeholders.

Using the name recognition of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s annual basketball tournament, the author were able to encourage high levels of participation by faculty, doctoral students, and postdoctoral fellows in not only developing a consensus around eight broad lines of inquiry but also offering tangible recommendations for accomplishing those goals within the next 5 years. Other schools of nursing seeking to evaluate their research enterprise and align their science with national priorities could easily replicate this approach.

Q & A Spotlight

Minimize the gap between the haves and the have-nots, improve public education, and increase opportunities for lower-income individuals to gain access to top-notch higher education. Obviously, those are huge objectives that will take many years to fully accomplish, but I think it is critical that we start thinking now about how we can realize those goals.

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